FENCES WILL CONTINUE to be erected along the canal if more tents are pitched, Waterways Ireland Chief Executive Officer John McDonagh has said. 

The comments come just days after Taoiseach Simon Harris said the fences are expected to be removed in the coming weeks.

McDonagh told an Oireachtas committee that the agency alone took the decision to erect fencing along the Grand Canal without any consultation with government. 

He told the committee that to date, he has had no contact from Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman or his officials in relation to the fences along the canal.

The barriers were erected along the Grand Canal in May, as 100 asylum seekers were removed from the site. The barriers have met with criticism from opposition politicians and community groups.

The cost of removing tents has cost over €125,000 to date, with the barriers costing €45,000 since May.

The agency said that to date, 330 tents have been removed from the canals.

Chair of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Brian Stanley questioned the logic around the decision and asked if there were plans for the barriers to be removed.

McDonagh said the agency had to extend the fencing “up to 2km”. 

“Would you move it again, if it goes 4km or 5km?” Stanley asked.

“If that happens, we will,” McDonagh replied.

The CEO said there were concerns around health and safety as well as securing the agency’s property. Stanley pointed out that since the barriers were erected, the tents have only moved further down the canal. 

Fencing has had to be extended by two kilometres as the encampment moved, McDonagh confirmed, adding that if the tents move, they will continue to place barriers where they are pitched. Despite questioning from Stanley, McDonagh did not confirm how many kilometres Waterways Ireland is willing to extend the fencing. 

Éana Rowe, Operations Controller of the Waterways Ireland, said the fences are temporary and outlined that there are four options under consideration. 

One option it is looking at is landscaping and architectural redesign to prevent tents from being pitched again.

The other options include, removing all fencing, removing the fencing but put 24 patrolling in place, or to leave the barriers in place “until the situation is resolved”.

It was indicated to the committee that the option to accelerate plans to undertake landscaping and increase biodiversity, in conjunction with Dublin City Council, was the preference. 

McDonagh said when the tents were first seen along the canals, businesses and resident associations were in touch with Waterways Ireland for the encampments to be removed. Now that the fences are in place, there are now calls for the barriers to be removed, he said. 

“We believe if we remove the fencing the tents will come back again,” he said. 

Fianna Fáil’s James O’Connor told the committee that it was extraordinary that O’Gorman or his department have not made contact with Waterways Ireland.

He said the barriers are a “hideous eyesore”, with McDonagh agreeing that they are “unsightly” and closing off recreational space along the canal is not satisfactory to Waterways Ireland.

Rowe said the primary concern for Waterways Ireland is health and safety, stating that it is not appropriate for tented encampments to be situated beside deep water and deep lock structures. 

Fianna Fáil’s Paul McAuliffe said reopening the amenity has to be the number one objective. The operations controller said the “only option we had in the short term was to erect fencing”.